“ If you’re on the sale side you can’t afford not to come. Everyone that is a customer is here. From a purchasing side you’re going to see every major supplier, all the people that are relevant in our industry. You can’t afford not to attend this show. ”

Myra Gordon – Hunts Point Terminal Market

“ If you look at the foot traffic of the show floor and you have a product that you want to expose, there probably is no singular better venue where everything is all in one place. ”

Maykool Lopez – Costa Rica / Procomer

“ The New York metro area is a great market for Costa Rica. It’s a melting pot itself, and it allows us to get close with the retailers, get close with the distributors and importers. ”

Marianne Santos -- Wakefern

“ Seeing product that isn’t carried locally, yet from companies around the globe, it gives us a starting point for what we should do at retail. ”

Tim Payne – Sysco Foods

“ You come to the show and meet a different vendor, a different exhibitor, and find out they’re here locally, and we do have the opportunity to do business with them now. ”

Lindsey Inserra – Inserra Supermarkets Inc.

“ We’re so excited to be here because we want to see all the new products. ”

Paul Kneeland – Fresh Formats

“ It really is important to us from a strategic standpoint to look at this show and look at how it fits in our company, and that’s the pieces that are missing where we can fill the gaps right here in the show. ”

Jim Blair – Wholly Guacamole

“ I personally know a lot of the people who make the key buying decisions in New York and New Jersey and even on up in New England and I’ve seen them all today. A lot of shows you don’t get that but at this show you do. ”

Benjamin Walker -- Baldor Specialty Food

“ Ever since coming to the Javits Center, the show has come to a whole new level. We use these three days to really network, talk about how to improve our business not just from a customer standpoint, from our supplier/vendor relationships as well. ”

Rich Dachman -- Sysco

“ We’re able to very methodically walk through the show, casually meet with our suppliers. It tends to be a great environment to do business at the show. ”

Richard Thorpe – Whole Foods Market

“ It’s more intimate. It’s a place where I can get through it in a day. I can see a lot of people in a short amount of time and really focus on the business at hand. ”

Richard Leibowitz – Culinary Specialties

“ When we do a larger show we can kind of get lost in it. With a smaller booth, people will spend more time talking to us, we can get more business done, and we walk away with a lot of new friends and new business. ”

Paul Hamilton – Kings Food Markets

“ It’s just a great event and a great opportunity to learn more, to educate yourself, to educate other people and to become more involved in the produce industry. ”

Gabriela D’Arrigo – D’Arrigo Bros. Co of NY

“ To be able to have a venue and have your shippers as well as your customers all meet in one area in your hometown is great. ”